This chapter shows how liquid crystals (LC) and their optical properties can be used to make reconfigurable optical waveguides, electro-optical and all-optical devices integrated on various substrate materials such as silicon, silicon nitride, polymers and glass.

Chapter Contents:

• 10.1 Optical properties of liquid crystals
• 10.1.1 Optical anisotropy and refractive index
• 10.1.2 Electro-optic effect in LC and molecular reorientation
• 10.2 Switchable optical waveguides with liquid crystal core in silicon
• 10.2.1 Fabrication technology
• 10.2.2 Electro-optical and all-optical switching
• 10.3 Photonic devices with liquid crystal core in polydimethylsiloxane
• 10.3.1 Fabrication of LC:PDMS waveguides
• 10.3.2 LC:PDMS-based photonic switches and demultiplexers
• 10.4 Bragg reflectors based on liquid crystals
• 10.4.1 Tuneable optical filters using composite gratings on glass
• 10.4.1.1 Electro-optic filter
• 10.4.1.2 All-optical filter
• 10.4.2 Guided-wave tuneable Bragg gratings
• 10.4.2.1 Coplanar electrode configuration
• 10.4.2.2 Top–bottom electrode configuration
• 10.5 Integrated optic devices based on a liquid crystal overlayer
• 10.6 Conclusions
• References

Inspec keywords: electro-optical devices; liquid crystal devices; silicon; polymers; silicon compounds; integrated optics; liquid crystals; optical waveguides; glass

Other keywords: optical properties; integrated optics; polymers; silicon nitride; glass; electro-optical devices; liquid crystals; all-optical devices; Si; reconfigurable optical waveguides; substrate materials; SiN; silicon

Subjects: Integrated optics; Electro-optical devices; Optical waveguides and couplers; Liquid crystal devices; Optical waveguides; Display materials; Integrated optics; Liquid crystals (optical materials)